


20 Minutes at the End of the World

by Keladri, youngavengersbigbang



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-16
Updated: 2013-10-16
Packaged: 2017-12-29 13:38:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1006075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keladri/pseuds/Keladri, https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngavengersbigbang/pseuds/youngavengersbigbang
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The world was coming to a violent end, but at least Teddy wasn’t completely alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	20 Minutes at the End of the World

**Author's Note:**

  * For [akaparalian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/akaparalian/gifts).



> This story was written by Via for the 2013 Young Avenger's Reverse Big Bang.
> 
>  **Warnings/Triggers:** Mentions of violence and minor character deaths.
> 
>  **Notes:** This AU takes place before the very first Young Avengers comic. That means: the Avengers are not active, Billy’s power is questionable, and Teddy still thinks he’s just a mutant.

Play the fanmix

The city in the distance was burning down, the flames glowing bright against the dark sky. Plumes of smoke billowed up, gray and ominous, but miles away, the stars shone bright. It was chilly, some random Monday night in the middle of October. Everyone always said the world would end in December, but it seemed it wouldn’t even make it past Halloween.

Zombies. How much more cliche could it be? A few short weeks ago, Teddy would have laughed at the idea. Zombies belonged in the movies, in silly novels and scary video games. But none of them compared to reality, there wasn’t anything entertaining about the end of the world. It wasn’t a gripping HBO drama, it was his life, and it was horrible.

There weren’t really undead monsters roaming the country. They were just people, human beings, and they were sick beyond belief. The specifics went above Teddy’s head, but whatever _it_ was, it struck hard and spread fast. Within hours of infection, a victim would disintegrate into black-goo spewing, mindlessly destructive… zombie, for lack of a better term. On the plus side, if there could even be a plus side, they were no longer contagious once they reached that point. 

It hadn’t taken long for it to spread silently through the population though. Before most communication had been cut off, it sounded like it had spread across the entire east coast. If the rest of the country, and the world, remained untouched was unknown. Teddy was heading west, because moving on was the only way he could keep himself from giving up completely. He couldn’t do that, not yet.

The first morning of the apocalypse, he found his Mother choking to death on black goo. It was a miracle he hadn’t contracted it, perhaps only his unique mutant genes had saved him. (He wasn’t willing to test the theory, though.) It had taken all of his strength, his heart breaking, to keep her from killing him. He would never forget her pitch black eyes and the unfamiliar hatred that twisted her face. Teddy sat with her, thrashing and spewing and coughing, for a whole painful hour until she passed on. Compared to the days and days some victims lasted, it was a quick death. That didn’t lessen the ache that had taken residence in his chest.

A stray journalist found him wandering the streets minutes later, and tucked him into her car. She took him to a makeshift shelter, and disappeared back into the chaos. Where were the Avengers when you needed them? Perhaps it had swept the city too quickly for the disassembled team to stop it, perhaps there was a zombie Captain America roaming the burning streets of New York. It would be easy, to blame his heroes for the tragedy. But Teddy, Teddy had super strength, and he hadn’t done anything either.

The shelter was in a local library, down in the basement. It was decent enough, but it only took a few days for the information to spread—it wasn’t safe to stay in large groups. Anyone could be carrying the virus, and they were highly contagious until they went full-on zombie. There was a mad scramble to escape the tiny shelter, and Teddy was left with only a single companion with whom to flee the city. There was a vague promise made, that they would all try to re-group when it was all over… but when was _that_ exactly?

So Teddy was left to escape from a burning city, alone except for another teenager. His name was Billy, and he was beautiful. He was about Teddy’s age, shorter and smaller, and also a mutant. His little brothers had been sleeping over at a friend’s house the night before it all began. Billy got dropped off at the shelter by his parents, and that had been the last he had seen of them. The first time Teddy saw him, Billy had his head shoved in a toilet, puking up what seemed to be every meal he had ever eaten. And yet, it was practically love at first sight.

Billy blamed himself for the disaster. He said he had magic mutant powers and he had started it all. But Teddy had only known him for a few days, and he didn’t believe it. Not Billy, kind enough to hold a stranger’s hand while he cried over his dead mother. Not Billy, who loved comics and secretly wanted to be a superhero. And definitely not Billy, who loved _The Sound of Music_ , and knew all the words by heart. There was no way that Billy could create such agony. But maybe Teddy was a little infatuated. 

Lying together on a grassy hill, looking up at the stars, it was hard not to be. It was the end of the world, feasibly everyone Teddy ever loved was dead, but at least there was Billy. They were side by side, and if Teddy reached out, he could hold his hand. He wanted to do it, because then Billy would turn his sad eyes away from the stars and smile at him. Teddy loved that smile, so sweet and strong and a little shy. He wanted to protect that fragile happiness.

“I’m scared, Teddy.” Billy whispered, not bothering to blink away a few escaped tears. “I don’t know what to do.” Teddy’s heart clenched at the sight. He was just as scared, but he didn’t wear his heart on his sleeve. Hiding his fear from Billy made it easier to hide it from himself. The terror lingered in the back of his brain, ready to pounce at the first sign of weakness. Teddy was strong, he could be strong enough for the both of them, right?

“We’ll figure something out.” Teddy replied, sounding more sure than he really was. “It’s going to be okay.” He reached out and took Billy’s hand. In that moment, he promised himself he would never let go. He would hold on, because it felt like letting go would be giving up. And it felt like Billy was all that was holding Teddy together. He was on the verge of falling apart, but that small hand in his was keeping him whole.

New York City was in ashes and ruins, the world was coming to an end, but Teddy? Teddy had _Billy_ , so maybe, just maybe, everything would work out.

**Author's Note:**

>  **End Notes:** I wasn’t able to finish my 20k story, so for that, I must apologize to everyone, especially the amazing Dawnstep. That story will be completed eventually. So if you liked this, more is coming! (You can nag me, I'll need the extra motivation) Thanks for reading.


End file.
